Manchester United could have the deadliest attack associations in Europe

Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013, Manchester United have not looked the same on the attacking front, but do they already have the answer?

Manchester United have had a major lack of consistency in attack areas since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. The 10 months that David Moyes was at the helm saw Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney aged, exhausted, looking like shells. of his former selves during the Scottish short tenure at the club.

Young Belgian prospect Adnan Januzaj had an electric start during his breakup season, but was never considered good enough to lead United’s attack. When Louis Van Gaal took over the 2014/15 season, he was able to bring in some South American reinforcements, in the form of then club signing Angel Di Maria of Real Madrid and Colombian hitman Radamel Falcao who looked to reignite his lightning bolt shape. after a dry period in Monaco.

Both signings had no real impact on the club, resulting in both players leaving the club after just 12 months in North West England. The strategy changed on the attack front. Van Gaal and Ed Woodward decide to invest in younger talents, signing up promising Dutch winger Memphis Depay of PSV Eindhoven and then unknown to most, Monaco forward Anthony Martial. Martial started his life at Manchester United scoring brilliantly in a 3-1 win over bitter rival Liverpool on his debut, and a remarkable goal in that. With Depay compared to a young Cristiano Ronaldo and Martial compared to a young Thierry Henry, it seemed to be an exciting time for Manchester’s red side.

While Martial continued firing on all fronts, Memphis was unable to unite a number of shapes. He showed glimpses of what he could do, which still leaves us United fans thinking about what might have been, now he’s picked up the form for Lyon. United were still battling for numbers in the third attack, with Rooney and Martial injured, Manchester-born teenager Marcus Rashford chimed in for the Europa League clash against FC Midtjylland, scoring two goals in a 5-1 victory. This earned him a starting point when they met Arsenal the following weekend. Packing up another brace when United beat Arsenal 3-1. United fans were amazed at the talent they possessed.

The following season, José Mourinho replaced Louis Van Gaal, bringing Zlatan Ibrahimović on a free transfer from PSG, taking no. Anthony Martial shirt 9. Zlatan had a brilliant first season helping United in the League Cup and the Europa League win. Rashford and Martial were forced to fly and had significantly calmer seasons. Towards the end of the campaign, the Swede tore his ACL, leaving him out for the foreseeable future. This led José to search for another new attacker, signing Romelu Lukaku from Everton for £ 75 million.

This left Martial and Rashford vying for the left position that became vacant after the Memphis Depay game. They both had little patches of shape, but they never showed the same prolific nature they had playing in the middle. Rashford was apparently preferred by José Mourinho, leaving Martial’s opportunities limited.

By entering the 2018/19 season, Lukaku had accumulated pounds to better adapt to the waiting game that José demanded of him. This caused him to lose a meter of pace, with his form like United’s exhaustion, when José was finally replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when manager Lukaku lost his place on the side with Rashford taking no. Position 9 and Martial reinstated on the left side turning with Alexis Sánchez, who signed with Arsenal as part of an exchange agreement that saw midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way.

United fired again during the first three months of Ole’s spell, but the form fell quickly leaving United in sixth as the season came to an end. Ole then brought in young Welsh winger Daniel James who had impressed at the Swansea Championship. Ole also changed the system with Martial back in the middle and Rashford on the left. Which is where things started to heat up.

The pace and power of both forwards were too strong for most teams, including Man City, who were brought up in their own backyard, while both were fit. United was a force that Rashford scored 14 in the league and Martial 11. Combined with the speed that the two possess led United fans to the days of Ronaldo and Rooney leading the line in the 2000s. With the current team Of United players, we could see Ole roll out a front two next season as opposed to a front three. With Rashford’s recent absence, we’ve seen Martial and James play as two, but James lacks the instinct for the forward that Rashford possesses, making him often out of position and not lining up with Martial. With Rashford returning from injury in time for next season, an explosive attack partnership could form.

What do you think, can Rashford and Martial be the next great alliances at United?